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Angels near deal with top-pick Green

Angels near deal with top-pick Green

The Angels select left-handed pitcher Hunter Green with the 59th pick of the 2013 First-Year Player Draft

By Alden Gonzalez
/
MLB.com |

ANAHEIM -- The Angels are close to signing their first selection in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft, high school left-hander Hunter Green, for the slot value of $942,000.

The Angels, without a first-round pick due to the offseason signing of Josh Hamilton, took Green in the second round with the 59th-overall pick. Within the next few days, the 17-year-old Kentucky product is expected to fly to Southern California to sign his first professional contract.

Green, 6-foot-4 and lanky, was considered by many to be a first-round talent heading into the Draft, with a low-90s fastball, sharp curve, sinking changeup and 0.14 ERA as a senior at Warren East High School in Bowling Green.

Green, who turns 18 on July 12, posted a 1.66 ERA throughout his high school career, striking out 323 batters in 168 2/3 innings. He gave up a run in the first start of his senior season, then didn't allow another one the rest of the year, striking out 110 batters and walking 37 while en route to being the No. 1-ranked player in Kentucky's class of 2013 and getting a full scholarship to the University of Kentucky.

He'll start his career in the Angels' system as a starting pitcher and is expected to begin his pro career in the rookie-level Arizona League once he signs.

The Angels announced last week that they had signed 34 of their 39 Draft picks. Twenty-one of those selections were pitchers, including a club-record-tying seven in a row to start the Draft (also done in 1999).